Been a while since this plate was used – shame to cover up the sticker.

I guess expecting reliability from a 49 year-old un-rebuilt engine is unrealistic. I was happy so far as I’ve only addressed cosmetic issues and suspension. My luck has run out.

I was on my way from the licensing office to work on my first “legal” drive. Was doing about 60-65km when I lost power and then the rear wheel locked up. Pulled the clutch and pulled over, the engine turned over but it feels like compression is down, although there is compression. With two cylinders and a shared space it is difficult to tell which cylinder has an issue.

Question now is, full rebuild? Source of the problem? Lean carb, oil delivery – cable or pump? The bike was running great a few days earlier and did the same stretch of road no problem.

This page might come in handy when I get the head off, it shows how to read the piston damage from a seizure.

With spring just around the corner, and the annual pilgrimage to the CVMG Paris Rally, I have been working on getting my Puch 250 SGS suspension overhauled. The rubber seals have long gone brittle and what little oil remains is thick and gooey.

The forks I discovered are bent, not surprising considering the condition of the front fender, the dented fork covers and handlebar into the tank. One is bent more than the other – I will seek out a hydraulic shop to see if they can straighten them out.

I took the shocks and forks apart to assess the condition of the components in case more than consumables are needed. Luckily, seems all is in order, just dirty, gooey and decomposing or brittle rubber bits. One fork seal was brittle enough to almost cut my hand, the other was fairly supple.

The rear brake lever (part no. 175.4011.2) I ordered from Motor West arrived today, or should I say the envelope arrived. It appears the envelope tore open and the lever fell out.

Packing tape was invented for a reason, Matt. *Update: Matt has graciously offered to send me another at no charge. That’s class.

I was in the process of ordering parts for my ’66 250 SGS when I thought I “might as well” get fork and shock seals for the M125, save on shipping.

The M125 has languished in the corner of the garage since I bought it. The engine was seized and the kick lever moves up and down – something is broken in there. I have always hoped that a squirt of oil down the spark plug hole and and a quick fix on the starter mechanism would have em laughing as I bing-batta-binged around.

Starter chain broken.

You know how “while I’m at it” syndrome works; I thought, no point ordering fork seals for a bike that won’t start, so I cracked open the kick starter and discovered a broken chain. Great, not too hard to replace, I hope. I will have to hunt down the owner of the bin seen here.

Next issue was the seized piston. When I first took the head off I was greeted by a gritty, twiggy, sandy sludge sitting on top of the piston. I guess the previous owner let it sit outside without a plug….. explains the seizure.

I let is sit over night with WD40 and tried to move the piston by the rear wheel in gear, no luck. The next day I decided to use a smoky-wrench. I got the barrel up to smoking and then applied some MBH (Mighty Big Hammer).

Actually it was a small hammer (until it connected with my left index finger…) and a long piece of wood. The pine stick eventually shattered so I switched to a steel pipe with a wooden puck on top of the piston.

After I got to BDC, I raised the barrel on wooden blocks and used a combination of pounding and at the very end turning the clutch with a oil wrench. The clutch was protected by a slice of old Norton inner tube.

The bore looks ok, some flaking at the very top and a 6mm strip missing between the exhaust ports, you can just see it in the video above. I figure there is no compression happening there anyway but concerned it may score the rings. I am hoping that I can get away without a re-chroming.

The piston looks ok, the rings are obviously gone! The crank has light rust and the big ends are tight, so I’ll have to crack the cases open and see what’s happening inside.

Alas, it looks like years of sitting under a deck with no spark-plug have taken their toll. I was hoping I could get away with a squirt of, squirt of gas and a good kick as I did with the ’66 250. I literally almost fell off the bike in shock and when it started on the third kick, yes started, not cough or sputter, but started!